Courage a key word for Wolves

Whatever else Wolves may lack in Premiership equipment, they are not short of courage. Or perhaps what is firing them is a reluctance to experience another coating of the scorn David Jones directed at his team in September, after a 5-0 home defeat by Chelsea left them with one point from their first six matches back in the top division. Since then, they have taken nine from six - and handed their dunces' caps to those of us who wrote them off too early.

It will still be difficult for Wolves to avoid relegation, but at least they have a chance. As long as they remain dogged fighters, unwilling to expose themselves again to Jones's charge of showing opponents too much respect, they will be capable of rescuing matches as they did this one, coming from behind to breach a defence who have kept eight clean sheets in the league this season, even threatening to win the match in stoppage time as Henri Camara cut a perfect little ball back to Steffen Iversen, who miskicked.

To be fair to Iversen, there had been evidence to suggest it was a day when the miskick option was worth a try; his equaliser had followed a shot from Paul Butler that skewed so wildly off target as to reinvent itself as a crossfield pass. At any rate, Jones was pleased with the former Tottenham striker he has signed on a one-year contract. "His career has had its ups and downs," said the Wolves manager, "and I've given him an opportunity. He repaid that today. It was his best performance for us. He led the line brilliantly and worked his socks off."

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It is testimony to Birmingham's progress - with nearly a third of the campaign gone, their ambitions to secure a Champions League spot have yet to acquire a fanciful air - that Steve Bruce was disappointed with a point. He was irked that, after Mikael Forssell had given them the lead shortly after half-time, they did not "drive on". Forssell has scored five goals in eight matches and, Bruce added, was the only player finding the net. "We have to take the burden off him." Christophe Dugarry apart, no one even came close, and the Frenchman departed with a knee injury after being cautioned for diving in the penalty area.

For more than an hour, nonetheless, Birmingham looked superior, and certainly in little danger of suffering damage to their fine defensive record. Two saves from Maik Taylor helped them to reach the interval level. Five days earlier, he had taken part in one of the most impressive joint goalkeeping exhibitions I can recall in the Premiership; Charlton's Dean Kiely was judged man of the match, but Taylor cannot have been far behind him.

The last thing any of us here expected, as the ball bobbled in front of Iversen some 35 yards from goal, was for the Norwegian to try to score. But he did, with a half-volley of such sweetness and power that Taylor was glad just to fend it away. When the ensuing corner came over, the Northern Ireland keeper was grateful for the assistance of Damien Johnson, who was stationed just inside a post and able to deny a promising header from Jody Craddock.

Soon Taylor was back in action, showing a combination of anticipation and agility as Iversen burst into the penalty area and tried to place the ball low to his left. If there was an element of fortune in the rejection of Forssell's penalty appeal by Graham Barber, the Finn then proved himself just too sharp for a defence still missing the injured Joleon Lescott, collecting Dugarry's pass and shooting in off Michael Oakes. Minutes later Forssell dragged one across the face of goal.

So Birmingham were still vulnerable. How, though, could Wolves equalise? The answer was plucked from Keystone Kops' coaching manual: Butler sliced off target, Camara appeared unsure whether to cross or shoot and essayed the customary hybrid, which Iversen untidily converted with Johnson in attendance at the far post. A rather more elegant move was contrived seconds from the final whistle, but Iversen snatched at this chance to fix his place in Molineux's affections by winning a derby.